This makes me feel great, my 2nd grader starts school tomorrow. The State of Ohio is widely considered one of the best states when it comes to the accessibility of fingerprinting and the channeling of results. Ohio makes it very simple for industries to conduct background checks when fingerprints are required. The fact that educator background checks are behind is ridiculous.
Background Checks of Longtime Educators Lag
Many to return to classes without a search for criminal history in years
Saturday, August 16, 2008 8:50 PM
By Jennifer Smith Richards
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Hundreds of longtime educators whose criminal histories haven’t been examined in years, if ever, will return to their classrooms in the next few weeks without background checks, the state says.
The state didn’t even require fingerprints to be submitted until Sept. 5, after the start of school in most districts, but a backlog in federal background checks means that it could take much longer before the Ohio Department of Education examines the results.
In addition, the department’s priority is to check the background of new licensees before looking to see whether longtime school workers have criminal records.
All school workers must be fingerprinted for state and federal background checks under a state law enacted last fall. But educators with permanent or eight-year licenses are particularly affected, because many had not been checked.
